Maura Pozzi

This three-wave study examined psychological correlates of four forms of helping flood victims: monetary donations, in-kind gifts, volunteering in one’s place of residence, and volunteering at the flood site. This study drew on the Empathy–Altruism Hypothesis and the Norm Activation Model. Data were collected in February, April, and June 2025 from 1,028 Polish adults (M = 48.85, SD = 13.68). Results showed that affective and cognitive empathy, and pride, were positively associated with monetary and in-kind donations. Awareness of consequences was positively associated with both forms of donation, and negatively with on-site volunteering. Responsibility ascription and personal norms were positively associated with donations and volunteering in participants’ place of residence. Guilt was positively associated with on-site volunteering. Most wave × covariate interactions were not statistically significant. The findings indicate that psychological correlates differ across forms of disaster-related support, underscoring the value of examining these behaviors separately.

In the present study, conducted in October 2023 in Poland and Italy, we examined a sample of volunteers ( N = 518) about which moral foundations are associated with trust in specific organisations that played a significant role during recent social crises in Europe: the COVID-19 pandemic and the refugee crisis. The objects of trust included: (1) government; (2) public institutions; (3) non-governmental organisations; (4) self-help groups existent before the crises; and (5) self-help groups emergent in response to the crises. Individualising moral foundations were positively related to trust in non-governmental organisations and self-help entities, whereas binding moral foundations were positively associated with trust in government, public institutions and NGOs, as well as in self-help groups. We discuss these results in light of moral foundations theory and put forward suggestions for future research on how to effectively engage audiences with individualising- or binding-oriented moral profiles during social crises.

Episodic and digital forms of engagement have been marking volunteering as in transition. Individuals tend to engage in volunteering activities in multiple ways other than traditional volunteering, that is, an enduring activity, long‐term and organization‐centred volunteering. While episodic volunteering refers to occasional forms of engagement, digital volunteering represents the new avenue of engagement via information technologies and the internet. This research examines how motivations to start and maintain engagement differ among individuals across various volunteering forms. We did so by conducting a qualitative study based on nine focus groups involving 67 volunteers (age mean = 44, 45% female). Reflexive thematic analysis confirms the applicability of functionalist motivations yet identifies emergent motives unique to each volunteering form. Traditional and digital volunteers initiate volunteering for social change, whereas episodic volunteers prioritize practical engagement. Regarding sustained commitment, traditional volunteers emphasize organizational belonging, episodic volunteers focus on perceived community impact, and digital volunteers prioritize autonomy and personal growth. These results demonstrate how the evolving landscape of volunteerism reflects shifts in individual motivations, contributing new insights to social and community psychology.

This study examines the semantic content of identity among members of grassroots organisations to investigate how activists' self‐concepts reflect politicised collective identity. Using an identity content approach, 128 Italian activists were asked to complete an associative recall task in which they described themselves and their group. Thematic analysis identified distinct identity components that were interpreted as ‘possible selves’, including an agent/competent self, a communal/warm self, a romanticised self, a radical self and an ought self. The results showed that a strong politicised collective identity was associated with agency/competence‐related descriptors and a nuanced self‐image, whereas lower identification was linked to communal/warm descriptors and idealisation. These findings suggest that identity strength is tied not only to group affiliation, but also to specific identity content—particularly efficacy‐related traits. The results also highlight the need for further exploration of identity motives and the dynamic interplay between individual and collective identity in activist contexts.

This paper begins from the premise that motivations for having (or not having) children are not fixed or purely personal, but socially constructed. These socially shaped motivations influence how young adults approach the prospect of parenthood and ultimately shape their fertility intentions. Yet existing research lacks a theoretical framework that clarifies how social influences on motivation become the psychological mechanisms driving such intentions and subsequent behaviors. We address this gap by integrating Self-Determination Theory with the Theory of Planned Behavior, proposing that socio-cognitive factors - attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control - affect fertility intentions not directly but through the type of motivation they foster, whether intrinsic, extrinsic, or amotivated. Using nationally representative survey data on Italian young adults and structural equation modeling, we show that fertility intentions depend less on socio-cognitive factors themselves and more on the motivational orientations they generate. Intrinsic motives are associated with stronger intentions, whereas extrinsic and amotivated forms correspond to weaker or absent commitments. These findings underscore the importance of considering motivational type in fertility research and demonstrate the value of a TPB-SDT integrated framework for explaining variation in fertility intentions across individuals and social contexts.

Despite widespread speculation that conspiracy beliefs foster anti-democratic outcomes, the empirical picture is inconsistent. To clarify this literature, we examine the relationships that conspiracy beliefs have with commitment to reactionary action and criticism of democracy, focusing on a global issue: immigration. We expected that people who believe that their government uses immigration to diversify the population against citizens’ wishes (anti-migration conspiracy beliefs) would be more committed to conventional and violent action to oppose immigration, and more critical of democracy. However, societal-level factors – economic performance and democratic functioning – were expected to influence (strengthen, weaken) these links. As hypothesized, multi-level analyses (N = 4353) from 21 countries revealed that economic prosperity attenuated the positive link between anti-migration conspiracy beliefs and commitment to reactionary action. Paradoxically, more democratic societies evidenced stronger links between conspiracy beliefs and conventional (but not violent) action to oppose immigration. Thus, more democratic societies appear to invite conventional forms of action to oppose immigration which may, in turn, weaken democratic norms of inclusion. Results highlight the interplay of individual- and societal-level factors underlying illiberal movements.

Online volunteering is distinguishable from in‐presence volunteering due to its procedural nature as being partially or totally online. Over the past decades, scholars within psychology have been interested in understanding the online volunteering process. However, while bringing attention to the phenomenon, psychology still has to manifest concentrated engagement with online volunteerism. This review seeks to situate the study of online volunteerism in psychology. Using the scoping review approach, the paper maps the psychological perspectives on online volunteering based on sources collected via structured search on PsychInfo, Scopus and Web of Science (N = 14). First, it outlines the definitions, theories and evidence‐based knowledge of online volunteering. Second, the paper discusses the role of the psychology of online volunteering and its prominent contributions for such a form of volunteerism in documenting, reinforcing and mobilising processes at the individual and social levels. The paper concludes by setting new vistas for research and practices.

Subjective well-being is particularly important in family firms, where it also affects the economic performance of the business. It has been studied in many ways, but no study has considered intergenerational differences in the perceptions of well-being of entrepreneurs working together in the firm, an important issue especially when implementing organizational intervention programs. This study explores the psychosocial well-being of senior and junior family members belonging and working in the same family businesses in Northern Italy. Sixty-seven pairs of seniors and juniors participated in this research, completing an online questionnaire between June and November 2019. A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants, with seniors playing the central role in selecting their junior counterpart. Participants’ well-being was assessed across several dimensions, including self-esteem, individual well-being and organizational well-being. The results showed significant differences between seniors and juniors in almost all dimensions assessed, with seniors reporting higher levels of self-esteem and organizational well-being. This observation underscores the imperative of acknowledging intergenerational differences when elucidating the landscape of well-being within the intricate fabric of family businesses. Consequently, this study posits the indispensability of integrating intergenerational perspectives into the discourse on the dynamics of well-being in the context of family businesses.

The study presents an application of Latent Profile Analysis to sustain the existence of different profiles of meaning-making (i.e., the process of searching and finding meaning in life) within the late adolescent’s population, and to investigate the role of resilience in predicting profiles’ belonginess. 943 Italian senior high-school students (52% females) were clustered into two adaptive profiles, highly-engaged (high presence, average search) and balanced (average presence and search), and two maladaptive profiles, frustrated (average presence, high search) and disengaged (low presence and search). A multinomial logistic regression revealed that adolescents with robust resilience skills were more likely to show adaptive profiles, and less likely to fall into the disengaged group, suggesting that individuals with higher resilience are more prone to engage in search for meaning even when they perceive a lack of presence of meaning. Findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of meaning-making, calling the development of personalized interventions to foster adolescents’ ability to navigate life challenges during their transition toward adulthood.